South View takes tenants to court

Three JMU students and one non-student are going to court with the possibility of eviction from their South View apartment for allegedly breaking their leasing contract.

The primary reason cited for the eviction was that the tenants violated their apartment’s maximum occupancy code of 25 people, said junior Aaron Whitehead, one of the tenants.

Their eviction date is Nov. 27, Whitehead said.

The four tenants, junior Dillom Bahta, senior Montellace Greene, non-student Alfred Lewis and Whitehead were notified of their eviction after they held a party at their apartment on Friday, Oct. 22 and their floor sustained damages, Whitehead said.

The large occupancy caused their floors to slope.

The occupants were charged $2,000 by South View for the labor and parts it took to fix the floor, he added.

South View management told the tenants that a new floor would be put in the Monday following the party, and they would be able to move back in after 5 p.m. that day, Whitehead said. They were able to move back in Monday, Oct. 25.

"My roommate got to the apartment at like 8 o’clock and said there were four eviction notices on our front door," Whitehead said.

The tenants want to settle, but cannot get in touch with the South View lawyer, Whitehead said. He said he sent two e-mails to the lawyer, but hasn’t received a response.

"I told [the South View lawyer] that I wanted to settle, because we’re college kids and don’t want to go through all this stuff," Whitehead said. "We’re paying the floor damages, we had the party registered and tried to evacuate the house."

If the tenants are evicted, they will have to pay the remainder of their rent for the year, Whitehead said.

"This whole thing is a travesty, a shame," Greene said.

The South View general manager Kevin Williams declined to comment.